Residence Naypyidaw Appointer President of Myanmar | Nominator Assembly of the Union Inaugural holder Aung San Suu Kyi | |
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Style His/Her Excellency the State Counsellor Term length Equivalent to incumbent President (5 years) | ||
The State Counsellor of Myanmar (Burmese: နိုင်ငံတော်၏ အတိုင်ပင်ခံပုဂ္ဂိုလ်) is the de facto head of government of Myanmar.
The post was created on 6 April 2016 to allow for a greater role for Aung San Suu Kyi within the Government of Myanmar. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the 2015 Myanmar general election but she is constitutionally barred from becoming President of Myanmar as her husband Michael Aris and her two children hold British nationality.
The bill to create the post was passed by the upper house on 1 April 2016 and by the lower house on 5 April 2016, and signed by the President Htin Kyaw on 6 April 2016.
Roles and responsibilities
The post of State Counsellor is similar to that of a Prime Minister in that it allows the holder to work across all areas of government and to act as a link between the executive and legislative branches. The holder of the post serves in the role for five years, the same term as that of the President.